FILE - In this this Oct. 29, 2010, file photo in Dubuque, Iowa, is U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, who faces Republican Ben Lange in Iowa's 1st Congressional District race. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)

WATERLOO — This election proves Iowans wants mature leaders who will work across party lines to solves the nation’s problems, U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley said last night after his re-election as the state’s 1st District congressman.

“I’m looking forward to working with people who share my love of country and are willing to work together to move this country forward,” Braley told several hundred supporters at the UAW Hall here late last night.

With about 71 percent of the district’s precincts reporting, Braley had amassed 159,766 votes to 124,963 for Republican challenger Ben Lange — a 55 percent to 43 percent margin.

Jeff Giertz, Braley’s campaign manager, said, “It all boiled down to his message — bringing people together across party lines to face the nation’s challenges — strengthening the middle class, creating jobs and helping veterans.”

Braley, 55, is a Waterloo attorney. This will be his fourth two-year term.

Lange, 33, an Independence attorney, told about 100 supporters at the Longbranch Hotel and Convention Center in Cedar Rapids at 11:05 p.m. that he had called Braley to congratulate him on a “hard-fought” victory.

Lange said he would continue to make the point that the nation needs to get its spending and debt under control.

He said, too, that the Democratic presidential organization in Iowa seemed to benefit Braley and other races on the ballot.

In 2010, the 1st Congressional District had 12 counties and included the major cities of Waterloo, Cedar Falls, Dubuque, Clinton and Davenport.

Ben Lange watches as President Obama is reelected at the Ben Lange election party at Longbranch Hotel on Tuesday, November 6, 2012. (Kyle Grillot/The Gazette)

Today, after redistricting, the district encompasses nine of the same counties and 11 different ones — with the major cities of Cedar Rapids, Waterloo, Cedar Falls, Dubuque and Marshalltown.

In the 2010 vote, 136,706 of the voters in those 20 counties voted for a Republican candidate for Congress, 134,961 for a Democratic one.

Currently, 33.4 percent of the voters in the 20-county district are registered Democratic, 28.2 percent Republican, and 38.4 percent no-party or other party, according to Nov. 1 figures from the Iowa Secretary of Iowa.The district is slightly less Democratic today than in November 2010. Then, 34.8 percent were registered Democratic, 26.3 percent were registered Republican and 39 percent were no-party or other. (319) 398-8312; rick.smith@sourcemedia.net; (319) 934-3172;orlanlove@sourcemedia.net